One man's attempt at opting out of the total car culture by walking, busing, and cycling in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

130 Mile Weekend. That Was Fun. Let's Do It Again.

Roxanne and I got back yesterday from our 130 mile round trip to Shenandoah, Iowa. Basically we rode the Wabash Trace down Thursday to Shenandoah, stayed in a hotel spending the night, then a full day of sightseeing, overnight again, and then rode back.

A sore knee, a squeaky chain, and mild sunburn were the worst parts of it. Everything else was all good.

Actually, there is an opportunity to do the complete Council Bluffs to Missouri ride next week with the Spring 2009 Crank and Camp, but schedule constraints will likely prohibit me from attending.

Bike touring is fun, and it was quite an adventure doing it on gravel through the hills and prairies of southwestern Iowa. It was also interesting to learn about the little towns we rode through, and about Shenandoah, where we stayed. It was a great way to spend time with my wife.

Outside of RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate), there's not much you can do now.

Future:Have you been professionally fit on your bicycle? It can seem a bit pricey ($75 - $150), but IMHO it's well worth the investment. In 2008 winter, I developed a knee problem that was the result of a poor fit on my bicycle. While recovering, I took Old Yeller into High Gear for a fitting where it was revealed that I was stretched over a bike that was slightly too big for me. The solution was to shorten the saddle-to-handlebar length by changing the seat post angle, bringing the saddle forward and shortening the stem ($85). Since then, I've been riding injury free. I'd say that was money well spent.

2) I recall that you've had a knee injury previously. The PT thing worked for me. I went to a fellow cyclist, Mike Bartels, Edge Physical Therapy. Good stuff. I recommend.

Did your wife enjoy it as much as you did? I hear from so many cyclists that they want to get their spouses involved in their cycling endeavors, but the spouse has no interest. Is your wife a regular rider? Did you have to convince her to join you or anything like that? Or was she "all in" from the very beginning?

scotch and beer that's how you fix anything Scott,and i do mean anything... aand i do mean anything.... I will be riding somewhere Saturday morning probably to meet up with the people who are going on crank and camp then splitting off to some gravel routes and coming back home

Between Brady's "rice" and Rafal's liquid libations, I think I need to sit around watching TV and getting toasted to get on the road to recovery.

I took it easy on the way home today, but sure enough, about half way in, the left knee started hurting. It's cool how I can compensate with the clipless pedals using the other leg. Maybe that's not so good for the right knee.

Maybe a pro bike fit is in order. It's my foot on the other leg I was talking with you about before, Brady, with respect to running.

Darren: My wife doesn't get into the cycling culture or scene like we enthusiastic bloggers and social networkers do. Rather she rides often to work, 14 miles round-trip, most on the bike trail. She also rides with me on the occasional pleasure ride or utility ride to the store, restaurant, etc.

To put things in perspective, she's not interested in gloves, cycling shoes, jerseys, knickers, lighting systems, advocacy, MPH, cadence, etc. She just does it to do it when she wants to and we go at her pace to keep it fun.

For this 65 mile tour (each leg), it was all about getting out together, as husband and wife, and having some fun. The little town with a hotel and simple sightseeing at the end gave us a reasonable goal with built in recovery time. Cycling was a way to get there and to add to the adventure. We never kept a pace or formal itinerary. We just hoped to get there before it got too dark.

I had mentioned before that I thought it would be fun to ride this trail to camp at the other end. She inquired about hotels. Then she brought it up again later, in conjunction with a short trip to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. I was a little surprised, but as you might understand, immediately went to work organizing the trip and nailing down the details.

Your site looks interesting, and I will definitely be looking at it with ideas for future tours.

scott, i had terrible knee pain last spring that i really only resolved by seeing a physical therapist. i used lewedges for awhile (i think the name changed, but bike masters sells them and can fit you), which helped bring my knees back into alignment and reduce pain while riding--all legs have a natural cant to them that sometimes needs compensation at the pedal interface.

i'd start with lots of stretching--for a time i was riding for an hour and stretching for 30 minutes, twice a day. that was the most marked improvement.

also, fixed gear riding has some major advantages for knee health (albeit paradoxically) as it develops the opposing groups of muscles used in forward cycling (when you resist the pedals to slow or stop). sheldon would recommend (there's an article about it).

and really the bus might not be a bad idea for a few days to give the inflammation a chance to go down (you should be taking advil round the clock for several days to help catalyze that, too).

my thoughts.

a great trip too, looks like my idea of a perfect weekend in our fine environs.